Minister Family’s Black Belly Woman - Chapter 20

Upon hearing Chu Junyi’s words, Doctor Chen nodded and fetched his medicine chest from his assistant. He took out a few silver needles and pierced them at a few acupuncture points on Nanny Zhou.

Not long after, Nanny Zhou’s eyes snapped open.

Zhao Shi froze as her thoughts raced. She couldn’t allow Nanny Zhou to reveal the truth regardless the cost! She gave a cold glare to Liang Yu, who was scared stiff. What a useless thing, she scolded mentally, but there was still a need to give him the hint, “thank the heavens. Liang Yu, why are you still standing there? Can’t you see that your mother is awake? Go check and on her.”

Seeing the murderous intent in Zhao Shi’s eyes, Liang Yu understood her intentions. He rushed to Nanny Zhou and wailed, “oh, mother! You are finally awake! Who could possibly be so cruel to throw you into the pond? You could have died! I’m sure Master and the First Lady would find justice for us!”

Nanny Zhou was still in shock, but came to her senses when she heard Liang Yu’s cries. She turned to the First Lady, her eyes filled with hatred as she opened her mouth to speak in a raspy voice, “Lady… You…”

Liang Yu’s heart was pounding. If she spoke, his whole family would be doomed. He clenched his teeth and went forward. As he helped her up, he took the opportunity to give Nanny Zhou’s throat area a vicious blow from his palm.

Nanny Zhou was dumbfounded, her bloodshot eyes opened wide in disbelief. Her own son actually betrayed her.

“Mother, relax and talk slowly.” Large beads of perspiration gathered on Liang Yu’s forehead as he knelt on the floor, shivering from fear and nervousness.

But Nanny Zhou could no longer speak, she could only let out a few heavy sighs from her mouth.

Liang Yu’s actions were swift, not to mention he purposely stood back-facing everyone. Somehow, there really wasn’t anyone who actually saw his actions.

Chen Wen frowned, he narrowed his eyes and wanted to speak, but was cut off by Chu Junyi, “this is really unfortunate, to have found a witness to all these crimes but she could not speak.”

Shen Ninghua’s thoughts raced. Chen Wen clearly felt that something was off, but held back because of Chu Junyi’s words. It did not seem like something that the incorruptible Doctor Chen would do. The two definitely had a special relationship. Somehow, Shen Ninghua had a weird feeling that Chen Wen actually took orders from Chu Junyi.

Still, it was really strange that Nanny Zhou could no longer speak all of a sudden. But it was no matter, as long as Shen Dong started to have suspicions against Zhao Shi, she had plenty of opportunities to make their lives difficult.

The First Lady heaved a sigh of relief, her tight expression lessening somewhat. “It is truly a pity that she is unable speak to us. But so long as she is alive, that is what matters the most. Still, why would she be thrown into the pond?”

Su Shi gave a laugh, “sister is right, this was supposed to be a simple dinner, but strangely, many things occurred. The servant that was thrown into the pond managed to get out alive, meaning that the deed was done not too long ago……We just finished searching Ninghua’s courtyard and could not find anything. And now just as we were going to search the other courtyards, this happened……” Su Shi did not finish her sentence, but everyone knew what she was trying to imply. It was clearly the act of someone trying to destroy the evidence.

Shen Dong’s face darkened and gave Su Shi a glare. Even if what she said did make sense, she should not have said it so directly. But Su Shi was his sister-in-law and he could not reprimand her. He turned his attention to the First Lady, his eyes filled with suspicion and dissatisfaction.

Zhao Shi could only suppress the hatred in her heart. She tenderly hugged Shen Linghan and said tearfully, “Master, it’s all my fault, I could not maintain the house properly and caused such a disaster. I have no excuse for this, but I will fully investigate this and then seek punishment from Master.”

Shen Linghan looked up at Shen Dong, holding back tears in her eyes, “Father, Mother has always maintained the house diligently. But the poison in the wine and Nanny Zhou incidents are also weighing on her heavily. She is also very stressed by all this. Please Father, forgive Mother.” As she said this, she looked towards Baili Jinze and Chu Junyi. Although it was just a glance, but her gaze was pleading and desperate.

“Mister Shen, since Nanny Zhou is unable to speak, it would hamper the investigation. I’m sure Miss Linghan is still in shock from falling into pond. I think it’s best that Mister Shen not berate her so harshly now.” Baili Jinze said.

“The Fifth Prince is right, Linghan, Aunty heard that you said someone pushed you down? This is no small matter, a young miss from Shen family should not be so easily harmed by anyone.” Su Shi said as she squeezed the handkerchief in her hands.

Shen Linghan lowered her head in thought, her face slowly turning pale, “I was scared out of my wits just now, I don’t think anyone pushed me. After all, only Elder sister was beside me. It must have been…just my imagination.” She looked at Shen Ninghua as she talked, her lips trembling as if she was trying to hide her sadness and pain.

It was clearly a feint by Shen Linghan, stating that it was just her imagination, yet pushing all the blame to Shen Ninghua. Shen Ninghua sneered at her mentally, but she put on a sorrowful expression and turned to Shen Dong, “Father, it is true that I was beside Second sister, but I was at least four steps behind her. If I really wanted to push her into the pond, I don’t think I can accomplish it with the measly strength I possess.”

Chu Junyi waved the fan in his hand, he walked to the place where Shen Linghan fell, a smile curled on his lips. With a flick of his ankle, he kicked a rosary up from the ground. “These beads are really smooth, I might have fell if I stepped on them too.”

Shen Dong’s expression fell, the meaning behind Chu Junyi’s words was obvious. He felt even more disappointed at Shen Linghan’s actions. This daughter was always bright and sharp, but why was she acting so dim today? Even if she wanted to accuse someone, she had to have a good evidence. Even he noticed that Shen Ninghua was quite far away from her, she couldn’t possibly push Shen Linghan down.

Shen Linghan clenched her teeth, the onlooker’s stares felt humiliating, like slaps across her face. After waking to such a shock, her first reaction was to push everything on Shen Ninghua, but she did not consider the details in her accusations, causing her blunder. Her eyes landed on Shen Ninghua, who was standing at the side, and the hatred in her heart grew. If not for this wench, she wouldn’t have been humiliated.

“Sister, I must have been confused just now and almost caused a misunderstanding. You are not angry at me, are you?”

Looking at the innocent expression in Shen Linghan’s eyes, Shen Ninghua shook her head. She walked to Shen Linghan’s side and helped her up before speaking affectionately, “how can I be angry with you? I’ve just returned and I still want to get close with you as sisters. Even though there are many misunderstandings today, I’m sure it is fine as long as we can solve it.” Ha, if you want to act innocent, then I’ll join in on the act.

Shen Linghan froze for a second, before returning to normal. “Oh, then that’s great. Don’t worry, Elder sister, we will definitely find out who put poison in the wine, I trust you, Elder sister!” You may have the upper hand now, but you won’t escape from the poisonous wine!

Shen Dong frowned slightly. He gave Chen Yun a bow and said, “Doctor Chen, could I trouble you to check the wine? It’s in the front court.”

Chen Yun nodded. He casted a glance at Nanny Zhou, who was gasping on the floor, and followed Shen Dong to the front court.

Everything was left untouched in the front court. Chen Yun walked to the tables and held a wine cup to his nose and sniffed it. His eyebrows furrowed.

“Doctor Chen, is there anything wrong?” Shen Dong asked.

Chen Yun shook his head, he proceeded to check all the wine cups on the tables, and went to sniff at the wine jars as well. “Mister Shen, what do you want me to check?”

Shen Dong looked surprised, “whether this wine has been poisoned or not, naturally.”

“Mister Shen must be joking. This wine smells clear and refined, the brewing materials were also chosen with great care. If drunk regularly, it is also beneficial to the body. There is no poison at all.”

Chu Junyi looked at Chen Yun and noticed the slight shake of his head. He turned his attention to Shen Ninghua, full of astonishment. Chen Yun was indicating that the wine did not contain poison! Chu Junyi had also learnt some medicine for self-defense, so he had already knew that the wine was laced with arsenic. He called Chen Yun and hinted to him to protect Shen Ninghua if he could. Who knew that Shen Ninghua had already solved the situation by herself…… what kind of person did this girl meet for the past half a year?

Shen Ninghua looked up slowly, her eyes shining brightly. A plot followed by another plot, one leading to the next. Zhao Yunxiang and Shen Linghan were very clever, but she was no longer the Shen Ninghua they once knew.

She was back with plenty of hate and vengeance in her heart. And she would never rest until she has thrown them all into the pits of hell…

It seemed that Zhao Shi and Shen Linghan were quite confident of their schemes, but little did they know that Shen Ninghua was an expert at poison, arsenic was but child’s play in front of her. She could remove it without anyone noticing. It looked like Shen Dong had also realised something amiss. Hmph, how would those two try and pin everything on her now?

“Father, this wine was brewed according to a recipe I found on a medicine book. I gathered the materials bit by bit, for the sake of Grandmother’s and Father’s health. After all, the peace of the Shen family depends on you elders.” Shen Ninghua walked in front of Shen Dong, tears welling in her eyes. “But who knew so many things would happen to it. This case not only threatens my innocence, but also threatens the safety of the Shen family! It was poisonous a few moments ago, and now it’s not. Would the same thing happen to our meals in the future as well?”

He may not care about the incidents that do not affect him, but now that this case affects his own safety, Shen Dong would definitely take this personally. Shen Dong would definitely harbour suspicion against Zhao Yunxiang now!

Zhao Shi’s face turned green, her back breaking out in cold sweat. This wasn’t the plan! Shen Ninghua was supposed to take the blame of both the poison and the death of Nanny Zhou, and everything would come to a conclusion. But now, the wine was proven to not be poisonous, and yet someone died to it. If they investigated this further, Zhao Shi would definitely be one of the suspects. That wench Shen Ninghua!

“Master, I also feel that everything is rather strange. Doctor Qi, you have also tested the wine, was there anything wrong with it?”

Doctor Qi hurriedly went forward and checked the wine. He did not believe that his judgement was wrong. After checking the wine carefully with his silver needle, he frowned, “Doctor Chen, perhaps you didn’t check the wine carefully? There are clearly traces of arsenic in the wine, why would you say that it is not poisonous?”
Shen Ninghua snickered, “Doctor Qi, you do not want admit your wrong judgement, and instead you want to doubt Doctor Chen? Are you so sure that I put poison into the wine?”

“To claim a poisonous substance to be innocuous should be doubted! This definitely contains poison! I’m sure of it!” Doctor Qi said angrily.

Shen Ninghua’s voice grew colder, “You’re sure of it? Doctor Chen clearly said that it wasn’t poisonous, but you don’t believe him. Are you saying that your skills are above Doctor Chen’s?”

“If the Eldest miss is so sure that the wine does not contain poison, then please provide us with some evidence. Or people would start to believe that you are trying to hide your crimes!” Qi Zhengjun said hesitantly. Chen Yun’s medical skills were peerless, how could he possibly compare to him. But he could not swallow the humiliation of being insulted right in his face.

Shen Ninghua raised an eyebrow defiantly, “then what would you do if I prove that the wine is indeed not poisonous?”

“Then I will resign as the doctor of the Shen family!”

Shen Ninghua’s lips curled slightly, “very well, then I shall prove it to you.